According to the WHO, more than 4 billion people on Earth suffer from parasites. This massive infection is explained by the underestimation of the problem, the insufficient education of the population, the ineffective diagnosis and treatment of patients.
All parasites that can cause disease in humans can be divided into three main groups:
- Protozoan or Protozoan. There are quite a few varieties of them, but only a few are widespread throughout the world: lamblia, toxoplasma, Trichomonas.
- Worms or helminths. In the CIS countries there are intestinal worms, pinworms, toxocaras, trichinella, porcine and bovine tapeworms, echinococci, feline flukes and others.
- Ectoparasites (parasitize outside) - lice with lice, ticks.
Infection of the human body with parasites of the latter group is quite easy to notice, but protozoa and worms often come as a "surprise" to their "owners".
Why are parasites dangerous?
Most parasites live for a long time and multiply actively in the human body, so the diseases caused by them take a chronic and recurrent course. In this case, the affected organs stop working completely, immunity decreases, and the patient becomes more vulnerable to infections.
As a result, the body of a person infected with parasites is exhausted, weakened, poisoned by parasitic toxins, and allergic. These processes, of course, do not develop at lightning speed, but years of ignorance about the presence of a plague in the body, and consequently, the absence of treatment causes serious health problems.
How can you get infected?
Knowing the main ways to get parasites is an opportunity to protect yourself and stay healthy. If we focus on the common pathogens in the CIS countries, the list of possible routes of transmission of these parasites in humans will be as follows:
- Through dirty hands.
- Through dirty water (even when swimming in it).
- Through unwashed vegetables and fruits.
- Through raw or undercooked meat and fish.
- Contact with an infectious animal.
- Sexual contact (this is how trichomoniasis is transmitted).
How to suspect the presence of a parasite in a person?
Each parasite is characterized by its own localization in the human body, respectively, and a special clinic of the defeat of one or another organ. However, several signs can be distinguished that are common to all helminthiases and some diseases caused by protozoa.
Poisoning
Its appearance is associated with the vital activity of the parasite in a person, it is the products it secretes that poison the patient's body. This is manifested by headache, weakness, nausea, decreased appetite, irritability.
Allergy
Most of the time it is a skin rash that comes and goes and does not respond well to dermatological treatment. This can manifest as diathesis in babies. The origin of such a rash is also explained by the effects of the parasite's toxins on the body. If a person is allergic, then worm infection can cause more serious manifestations: swelling of the mucous membranes, attacks of bronchospasm, etc.
Weight loss
This symptom is especially pronounced in children who seem to eat well, but do not gain weight, do not lose weight, and at the same time look completely emaciated. The reason for the weight loss lies again in the competition for nutrients from the patient's body with the worms.
Periodic hyperthermia
In addition, the temperature does not rise much, up to 37, 5. This happens in the context of the absence of obvious signs of some kind of disease.
Intestinal disorders
This is flatulence, constipation, diarrhea, noise, and pain in the abdomen. Most often, these symptoms are explained by the presence of dysbiosis and are not successfully treated with antibiotics and bacterial drugs.
Anemia
Parasites inside a person feed on it, therefore the nutrients, micro and macro elements, as well as vitamins, often consumed by the patient, are not enough to satisfy the body's own needs. The first sign of such a deficiency is a lack of iron in anemia, which is manifested by paleness of the skin and mucous membranes, dizziness.
Variation in food preferences, cravings for sweets
These phenomena can also be explained by the lack of certain nutrients in the patient's body.
The appearance of these signs, especially all at once, should alert you and force you to consult a doctor.
Diagnostic and protection methods
It should be noted immediately that any alternative method of detecting parasites in the human body (eg the advertised Voll method) cannot be considered a reliable source of information. Therefore, you can only rely on microscopic examination of stool and multiple, specific blood tests for the presence of antibodies against individual worms and protozoa. The latter can be done in private laboratories.
To avoid becoming a victim of the parasite, a person must follow simple rules:
- Wash your hands always and everywhere with soap and water.
- There are only vegetables, fruits and herbs that are thoroughly washed or, better yet, blanched with boiling water.
- Don't drink raw water.
- Don't swim in muddy waters.
- A complete heat treatment of meat and fish products is mandatory.
- Periodically wash children's toys, and those that have been outside, for example, in a litter box, should be disinfected.
- Check pets annually for parasites.
Parasitic remedies
Doctors recommend worm prophylaxis 2 times a year with special preparations. However, it is impossible to arbitrarily prescribe to oneself, and even more so to a child, such drugs, since they are all toxic not only to worms. Therefore, you should consult a doctor about the possibility of using this or that drug and its dosage.
If the presence of a parasite in the human body is confirmed, it is worth seeking a good parasitologist who will prescribe an effective treatment regimen, as taking a single drug is usually not enough.